http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white...ign_02-15.html

JIM LEHRER: Yes, yes. What about the endorsement or coming endorsement by John Lewis, the Georgia congressman, switching, big supporter of Hillary Clinton, now he's going to switch to Obama? Is that an important move?

MARK SHIELDS: It is an important move. I mean, John Lewis is an icon in the civil rights movement. I mean, he carried the scars himself from being beaten as a civil rights worker in the South in the 1960s.

But I think it's part of a larger argument, where I think the Clintons are on solid ground and the non-Clinton folks aren't. I mean, super delegates are not electors in an Electoral College that have to follow some election returns.

I mean, they are chosen because of who they are, that they have a continuing interest in the party beyond a particular campaign or a candidate, that they're privileged observers, in the sense that they know these candidates better than just I, an ordinary voter, might.

And for that reason, I just think that every -- we knew going in what the rules were and that they were independent operatives. And the idea that somehow now they have to all follow slavishly the election returns I think is just trying to change the rules in the middle of the game.

DAVID BROOKS: I don't agree with that. It's a democracy. It's not an oligarchy. And I think there's going to be a lot of voter resistance to the idea -- if Obama wins the elected delegates and the super delegates swing it to Clinton, I think there will be an enormous amount of voter resistance to that.

Also, I have a Center for Responsive Politics report that Barack Obama has given $694,000 to the campaigns of the super delegates. Hillary Clinton has given $228,000. They've given -- if you look at all these super delegates, they've given $10,000 to this candidate, $19,000 to this candidate.

When you've got money flying around between the candidates, the presidential candidates and the super delegates, I think that will further taint the whole idea.

JIM LEHRER: And Speaker Pelosi said in an interview with Bloomberg today that she believes that the super delegates should represent the voting, in other words, they should not be an elite.

MARK SHIELDS: That isn't the reason they were chosen, Jim. They'll be objective to these rules going in.

JIM LEHRER: I didn't say it.

MARK SHIELDS: I mean, no, these rules have been there since 1980. They've been on the board. The point was to try and get party elders, party leaders into the convention so they wouldn't have to choose between candidates and run to be a delegate.

You can argue with the philosophy behind that, but that's been in the books for 28 years. Now people, the Obama people, want to change it at this point, Speaker Pelosi does?

I mean, David's right. It would leave a terrible, sour taste if, in fact, it appeared that super-delegates altered the outcome that somebody was going to be nominated and they stopped it. But at the same time, let's understand what super delegates are. And they are independent agents.

JIM LEHRER: Speaking of rules, there's also the issue that's now, of course, on the table, could be big time on the table eventually, is Michigan and Florida. How do you feel about that, David?

DAVID BROOKS: In this case, I think the Obama camp is right. I think it's tragedy for Hillary Clinton, because if you had counted those delegates, if those voters, the people who did vote had counted, she'd be well ahead.

But the fact is they were told not to campaign; they promised not to campaign; they didn't campaign; there were not real races in those two states.

And I think Hillary Clinton probably would have won anyway, but, nonetheless, you can't go and include them. Now, there is some talk of trying to get them to revote. That's pragmatically hard to do.

MARK SHIELDS: By the same standard, the rules of the super delegates begin, the rules on this begin. Everybody knew going in, all the candidates, that they weren't going to count. Now you can't pretend you're going to count them.

All I'm asking for is a little consistency on both sides. I mean, the Obama people are right on this one; the Clinton people are right on the super delegates.